This invention relates in general to temperature control systems that provide heating and cooling for seats. In particular, this invention relates to an improved structure for a heating and cooling assembly in such a temperature control system that provides conductive heating and cooling for a vehicle seat.
A seat, such as is commonly used in an automotive vehicle, typically includes a cushioning foam bun that is wrapped or otherwise covered in a layer of finish trim. An occupant of the vehicle seat contacts the finish trim layer when sitting on the vehicle seat. The vehicle seat may further have a temperature control system that provides heating or cooling of the finish trim layer for the comfort of the seat occupant. The temperature control system may heat or cool a fluid (such as air, for example) remotely from the finish trim layer. The temperature control system then circulates the heated or cooled fluid through passages extending through the foam bun to conductively convectively heat or cool the finish trim layer.
Typically, the physical thickness or other size of the vehicle seat is fixed or otherwise limited. As a result, the passages extending through the foam bun may reduce an amount of cushioning that the foam bun may otherwise provide within the fixed size of the vehicle seat. This reduction in the amount of cushioning may undesirably reduce the level of comfort afforded by the vehicle seat to the seat occupant. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved structure for a temperature control system that provides conductive heating and cooling for vehicle seats that avoids this potential problem.